Preseason Thunder: Sauter posts top speed Tuesday

Thorsports Racing dominated the speed chart as six days of Preseason Thunder came to a close this afternoon.

Johnny Sauter, who drives the No. 98 Toyota, posted the fastest speed of the day. He was clocked at 183.921 mph early in the afternoon session. The morning session was wiped away by rain.

Matt Crafton, the defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, was second quick in his No. 88 Toyota. His best effort was 183.895 mph.

Asked why Thorsports stayed while 15 other teams left the test by midmorning, Crafton said, “This is giving us a direction. We definitely need to work on our trucks more. We have more to learn."

Their teammate, Ross Chastain, rounded out the top-3 speeds. His fastest lap was 183.880 mph.

The Speedway will now prep for the Jan. 25-26 Rolex 24 At Daytona sports car race.

4:30 P.M.

Thorsports Racing is turning laps, but those three trucks are not producing blistering speeds. Johnny Sauter's 183.921 mph effort when the track first opened this afternoon continues to top the speed chart.

3:15 P.M.

Preseason Thunder is quickly winding down. On sixth and final day of testing, the field of NASCAR Truck Series entries has dwindled to five trucks.

Johnny Sauter, who won the truck race at Daytona a year ago, remains atop the leaderboard with a 183.921 mph effort. He has turned the most laps (46) today.

Ross Chastain has turned 45 laps, while Matt Crafton has been on the tri-oval for 39 laps.

Testing is scheduled to end at 5 p.m.

2:20 P.M.

Not much has changed since the last update other than Ryan Ellis has bettered his speed of the day in the last hour. Ellis got his No. 28 Camping World Truck Series machine up to 176.025 mph.

The other teams were not on the track since the last update. Johnny Sauter remains atop the speed chart after being clocked at 183.921 mph.

1:20 P.M.

The five trucks left for the last day of Preseason Thunder testing have all made their way to Daytona's 2.5-mile tri-oval.

NASCAR just told the five remaining Camping World Truck Series trucks in the garage the track will open for testing at 12:30 p.m.

No trucks have been on the 2.5-mile tri-oval yet today. The skies are clearing and the Air Titan remains on the course drying the track surface.

11 A.M.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series test remains in a holding pattern. There are 10 trucks in the garage, compared to the 20 that made laps on Monday.

Daytona International Speedway's 2.5-mile tri-oval is being dried by the Air Titan and competitors are hopeful that testing will resume this afternoon.

Some team members were tossing a football around in the garage area as they waited for NASCAR to green light the next testing session.

9 A.M.

The final day of Camping World Truck Series testing is under delay at Daytona International Speedway.

The rain has stopped and track drying efforts are underway.

Some of the teams have loaded up and are leaving the track, but NASCAR has not canceled Tuesday's test.

8 A.M.NASCAR's Preseason Thunder concludes its six-day run at Daytona International Speedway on Tuesday with the second day of Truck Series testing, scheduled from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., if the spotty weather forecast allows.

The six-day schedule began with two days of Cup Series testing, followed by two days for the Nationwide Series and finally two days for the Camping World Truck Series. It all opened Thursday with a wash-out of the first day of Cup testing, and teams and officials are hoping they don't get a repeat of that to close the six days of preseason equipment shakedowns.